Seeing Zhao Dajie about to refuse again, Xu Mingxuan quickly intervened, "Comrade Zhao, the food is already ordered. It would be a waste not to eat it. And food can't be returned. With this hot weather, unfinished dishes will spoil, won't they?"
In this era of scarcity, wasting food was considered a shameful act. Zhao Dajie saw that the couple sincerely wanted to treat her, and she had only followed procedure without any wrongdoing. She also admired their demeanor. Thus, Zhao Dajie no longer refused and nodded in agreement.
By the time the three of them arrived at the state-run restaurant, the food was already served. Everyone was waiting for them.
Chen Lan arranged for Zhao Dajie to sit next to Old Man Zhang. She asked Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang to first tend to the other two and then turned to go to the ticket-buying window.
Everyone assumed Chen Lan had gone to the restroom, so no one paid her much mind.
Chen Lan saw the long queue in front of the window and estimated it wouldn't be a quick affair. So, she took out five mao per jin of grain coupons from her pocket and went to the front of the line to quietly negotiate with the middle-aged woman at the very front. "Comrade, would you mind letting me go ahead? Just three people?"
She then offered the five mao and one jin of grain coupons in her hand.
The middle-aged woman was about to refuse when she saw the coupons and money. She immediately stopped speaking.
She quickly reached out, took the money and coupons, clutched them tightly, and said repeatedly, "Comrade, do you have an urgent matter? You go ahead and buy your ticket. It's fine, we're not in a hurry."
Chen Lan found it somewhat amusing, thinking to herself, this older sister is quite sharp and quick-witted.
Chen Lan politely thanked the woman and then ordered a portion of braised beef, a dish of fried peanuts, scrambled eggs with scallions, braised chili peppers, and ten donkey meat buns, along with ten sourdough flatbreads.
The woman, seeing Chen Lan order so much food without any containers, asked, "Sister, you've ordered so much. You don't have any lunchboxes with you. What will you use to carry it all?"
The woman's question jolted Chen Lan awake. She quickly asked, "Comrade, they should sell lunchboxes at the state-run restaurant, right?"
The woman then enthusiastically asked the waitress, "Comrade waitress, do you sell lunchboxes at your restaurant?"
The waitress replied, "We have lunchboxes, but we only rent them out, we don't sell them. The deposit is two yuan per rental, and the rental fee is five mao. How many do you plan to rent?"
The woman exclaimed in surprise, "How can it be so expensive? Five mao just to rent it once?"
Seeing the waitress's face darkening, Chen Lan smiled and gently patted the woman's arm. "Sister, thank you. It's alright, it's alright. It's my own fault for being in such a hurry today and forgetting to bring a lunchbox from home."
The woman glanced at the waitress, and hearing Chen Lan's words, immediately fell silent and said no more.
Chen Lan then spent ten yuan to rent four lunchboxes. She thanked the woman again and went to the food pickup counter.
As she walked, Chen Lan mentally searched her system's storage for cloth bags to pack things. There were countless cloth bags in the system's storage, all gifts from various manufacturers. The only drawback was that they were all printed with text. While waiting for the dishes, Chen Lan mentally searched the storage and finally found two plain, bright red bags. She didn't know what material they were made of, but at this point, she couldn't be too picky!
Because the ten buns and ten donkey meat buns had already been brought over on a tray by the young waitress.
Chen Lan quickly placed the four lunchboxes on the counter at the pickup point and took out the two red bags she had just found from her system's storage.
The young waitress's eyes lit up when she saw the two brightly colored bags. She reached out, took Chen Lan's food coupons, glanced at them, and immediately asked, "Comrade, could you please tell me where you bought these bags from? The bright red color is so vibrant! And this bright red is truly radiant and beautiful."
Chen Lan was momentarily taken aback by the waitress's sudden question. She paused for a moment, then smiled and replied, "Comrade, I didn't buy these bags at a department store in Harbin. A friend from another province said they were nice and mailed them to me specifically."
The young waitress's face immediately fell, like a deflated ball. She said, "Ah! So they're from out of province?" She looked quite disappointed.
Chen Lan, seeing her emotions displayed so openly on her face, guessed that the young girl was probably not very old, around fifteen or sixteen.
Chen Lan surmised that she had likely just graduated from junior high school. The fact that she found a job at a state-run restaurant immediately after graduation indicated that the young girl's family background must be quite influential.
At this time, many children her age, after graduating from junior high without finding work, would be immediately sent to the countryside as educated youth.
Furthermore, in the 1970s, a job as a restaurant waitress was considered a good position. Looking at the way the young girl spoke, she mentioned buying from a department store rather than a supply and marketing cooperative, indicating that her family was likely not that of ordinary workers but rather a family with considerable authority and connections.
So, based on the principle of making more friends, Chen Lan immediately smiled and said, "Comrade, if you like this bag so much, once I take everything home, I'll bring it with me next time I come to eat at the restaurant and give you one."
Little did Chen Lan know, the young girl was probably accustomed to receiving gifts. So, upon hearing Chen Lan's offer, she didn't feel shy or refuse. Instead, she said, "Auntie, why bother with such trouble? Just give me that bag now, so it doesn't get stained with oil. You can just use this tray to take the buns back."
While Chen Lan was still in a daze, the young waitress continued, "Auntie, just take it with confidence! I'll pay the restaurant for the tray."
Hearing this, Chen Lan thought, this young girl is really not reserved! Why does she act as if we're old friends?
Chen Lan smiled and didn't bother arguing with the girl. She reached out and handed her a bag. She watched as the girl happily and carefully folded the bag into a square, put it in her pocket, and then cheerfully ran off to get Chen Lan's cooked dishes.